GIMP
Image editor for photo retouching, compositing and graphics.
Desktop app: installed on users' computers, not run as a web service.
Building on it: what may you do?
Short answers based on the licence, for the version in the catalog.
- B1 Change the code for internal use in your company Yes Yes, as long as you don't distribute it.
- B2 Build your own product or service on top and offer it to customers as SaaS Yes Yes. Running it as a service is not distribution.
- B3 Make a closed-source derivative and sell or distribute it No No. If you distribute it, the whole work must carry the same licence, with source.
- B4 Use the project's name and trademark No No, not without permission. The licence covers the code, not the name or logo.
Keep in mind
- There is a licence note for this product (e.g. parts under another licence or version-specific terms): read it and check the licence of the exact version you use.
This is guidance, not legal advice. Check with a lawyer before deciding.
The licence in brief
GNU GPL 3.0 (GPL-3.0)
Strong copyleft. Free to run internally and as a service. If you distribute it, the whole work must be GPL with source.
The GIMP core is GPL-3.0-or-later (COPYING). The libraries (libgimp etc.) are LGPL-3.0. GIMP's own statement treats plug-ins that call it via libgimp/PDB as 'mere aggregation'.
This is guidance, not legal advice (inte juridisk rådgivning). Check with a lawyer before deciding.
Facts
- Licence
- GPL-3.0
- Licence type
- Strong copyleft
- Open core
- No
- GitHub stars
- 6.5k
- Latest activity
- Deployment
- Desktop
- Login/SSO
- Unknown
- API
- Unknown
- Multi-tenant
- Unknown
- EU vendor
- Unknown
- Source code
- github.com/GNOME/gimp
- Source
- GitHub API, fetched 2026-10-03
Licence analysis per use case
Sign in to see what the licence means for eight use cases – from internal self-hosting to offering the tool as a service.
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